Interchangeable in-line roller/ice skate assembly

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a skate assembly which allows interchange of in-line rollers and ice blades, and more particularly to an interchangeable in-line roller/ice skates which provides for such interchange through the use of simple and affordable means and without the necessity of buying new and customized skates. The assembly comprises a regular in-line roller skate including a boot or shoe with a sole to which a wheel frame is attached; said wheel frame is defined by two parallel lateral walls each of which includes a set of equally-spaced orifices into which wheels are rotatable mounted by inserting an axle bolt through said aligned orifices and through the central orifice of each wheel; the replacement assembly comprises an upper longitudinal bar portion including equally-spaced orifices and to which an ice blade is attached, the arrangement of said orifices coincides with the arrangement of the orifices in the wheel frame so as to align them during the replacement maneuver and insert a retaining bolt through them.

This application Claims the Benefits to Provisional Application 61/253,726

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a skate assembly which allows interchange of in-line rollers and ice blades. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an interchangeable in-line roller/ice skate assembly which provides for such interchange through the use of simple and affordable means and without the necessity of buying new and customized skates. The present invention relates generally to a replacement assembly for converting a regular in-line roller skate into an ice skating or ice hockey skating device, without the necessity of buying special or customized in-line roller skate devices.

2. Description of the Prior Art

There are several examples in the prior art of skates with interchangeable blades. These interchangeable skates typically require extensive and cumbersome maneuvers to achieve the change. But most importantly, in most of these cases involve the purchase of customized in-line rollers including said interchangeable feature. Therefore the user must purchase a new pair of skates to be able to interchange from the in-line roller to the ice skate set.

For example, an improved skate assembly which permits interchange of ice blades and in-line rollers is known, providing such interchange through utilization of a rotatable cam which is utilized to couple the blade support to the toe and/or heel of a boot. An interlocking notch/projection is employed to achieve mounting of the blade support subassembly to the boot. It also provides a means for adjusting the length of the in-line roller support frame so as to permit the utilization of a limited number of blade designs and manufactured lengths for accommodating a variety of shoe sizes.

Also known is a skate having an interchangeable operative blade or wheel assembly that is releasably fastened to a shoe or boot in a manner affording the selective longitudinal displacement of the blade or wheel assembly with respect to the shoe, and the precise positioning of the blade or wheel assembly with respect to the shoe in order to optimize the performance of the skate for the skater.

The combination of a shoe and an attachment secured to the shoe for mounting various skating devices is also known in the art. Said shoe including a sole with a longitudinal slot extending the length of the shoe, and said attachment includes a raised longitudinal vertical channel section of inverted U-shape adapted to fit snugly in said slot thus one pair of skating shoes is used for both types of skating wherein the street shoe sole attachment can be connected to said shoe so as to use as the common street shoe.

A mechanical interlock for securing either ice skates or roller skates to a single base member is also known between the devices of the prior art. The base member has surfaces for receiving the foot of the user and the interlock includes a pair of upstanding studs disposed at one end of the skate which cooperate with recesses in the base plate. An elongated leaf spring is secured to each skate at one axial extremity for pivotal motion in a plane parallel to the plane of the base plate. Disposed on the other axial extremity of the spring is a pair of fingers disposed for snug fitting engagement with the top and bottom respectively of the base plate and the skate.

All the above mentioned devices and examples have one problem in common: the user must purchase customized skates or boots or devices for enjoying the possibility of interchanging from an in-line roller to an ice skate. Therefore, even though the above cited devices address some of the needs of the market, an interchangeable in-line roller/ice skates which allow the user the possibility of converting regular in-line rollers into ice skates is still desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to an interchangeable in-line roller/ice skates which is designed for simple, fast and secure interchange of the original in-line roller assembly into an ice blade. The skate assembly includes a replacement assembly especially designed to replace the original in-line roller assembly into an ice skate or ice hockey skate. Each assembly provides a coupling means for fixing the new replacing assembly to the original in-line roller skate.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved skate assembly which provides interchangeability between an original in-line roller and a skating ice blade or ice hockey blade. Said interchangeability feature being accomplished by a simple replacement maneuver using regular Allen wrench and bolts.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a an improved interchangeable skate assembly which allows the replacement of a regular in-line roller skate into an ice skate or ice hockey skate without the necessity of purchasing customized and expensive devices or means.

Yet another aspect of the purposed invention comprises a replacement kit including a first replacement assembly for converting the conventional in-line roller skate into an ice skate and a second replacement assembly for transforming said in-line roller into a ice hockey skate. In both cases said replacement maneuver is performed by using conventional means that almost any user can use.

In summary the present invention is referred to an interchangeable in-line roller/ice skate assembly, comprising a regular in-line roller skate including a boot or shoe with a sole to which a wheel frame is attached; said wheel frame is defined by two parallel lateral walls each of which includes a set of equally-spaced orifices into which wheels are rotatable mounted by inserting an axle bolt through said aligned orifices and through the central orifice of each wheel; the replacement assembly comprises an ice skate assembly including an upper longitudinal bar portion including equally-spaced orifices and to which an ice blade is attached, the arrangement of said orifices coincides with the arrangement of the orifices in the wheel frame so as to align them during the replacement maneuver and insert through them a retaining bolt.

These and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the attached drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings provided to illustrate and not to limit the invention, where like designations denote like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of a conventional in-line roller skate including, as usual, a boot or shoe to the sole of which an in-line roller assembly is attached. In this particular case the roller includes four independent in-line wheels rotatable coupled to a wheel frame.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the conventional in-line roller skate of FIG. 1 this time showing in detail the in-line wheels and the wheels frame.

FIG. 3 is another perspective view showing this time the hand of the user taking the in-line wheels out of the wheels frame using a conventional Allen wrench.

FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the conventional in-line roller skate of FIG. 1 showing the four wheels out of the wheels frame after the replacement maneuver of FIG. 3 is completed. As shown, the wheels frame assembly is free of wheels and defines now a support the user will use to fix the ice skate or ice hockey skate assembly.

FIG. 5 is another bottom partially exploded perspective view this time showing the wheels frame free of wheels and the ice skate assembly ready to be fixed to said wheels frame. As shown the skating ice blade assembly includes an upper coupling blade including a set of holes which arrangement coincides with the arrangement of the set of holes of the wheels frame and to which the wheels were mounted.

FIG. 6 is another bottom perspective view of the purposed interchangeable skating ice blade assembly, this time showing the user fixing the ice skate assembly to the original wheels frame using a regular Allen wrench.

FIG. 7 is another bottom partially exploded perspective view this time showing the wheels frame free of wheels and the ice hockey skate blade assembly ready to be fixed to said wheels frame. As shown, the ice hockey skate blade assembly includes an upper coupling blade including a set of holes which arrangement coincides with the arrangement of the set of holes of the wheels frame to which the wheels were mounted; finally:

FIG. 8 is another bottom perspective view of the purposed interchangeable skate assembly, this time showing the user mounting the ice skate assembly to the original wheels frame using a regular Allen wrench.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF REPRESENTATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Shown throughout the Figures, the invention is directed to an interchangeable skate assembly through which the user has the possibility of changing from an in-line roller skate assembly to an ice skate assembly and/or an ice hockey skate assembly by using simple tools and performing simple maneuvers.

FIG. 1 shows a regular in-line roller skate 1, including a boot or shoe 2 with a sole 4 to which a wheel frame 3 is attached. As usual, said wheel frame 3 is defined by a longitudinal metallic structure including two parallel lateral walls 8-10 each of which includes a set of four equally-spaced orifices 11. In each orifice 11 a wheel 5 is rotatable mounted by inserting an axle holt 14 through said aligned orifices 11 and through the central orifice 15 of each wheel 5. Said axle bolt 14 is retained using at least an O-ring 16, a bearing 17 and a spacer 18. All these features are not described and illustrated in further detail as they are part of regular well-known in-line roller skates and do not form part of the purposed invention.

FIG. 2 shows from a bottom view the set of four aligned and equally-spaced wheels 5 mounted to the lateral walls 8-10 of said wheels frame 3. The number and size of said wheels 5 may vary as well as the size of the shoe 2 without departing from the scope of protection defined in the attached claims.

FIG. 3 also shows in perspective view the starting point of the replacement maneuver. The user unscrews and removes the axle bolts 14 from the front wheel with an Allen wrench 20. Then the front wheel 5 is pulled out of the wheel frame 3. Bearing 17 and spacer 18 are removed from the wheel 5. All components should slip out together. Once the maneuver is completed for the front wheel 5, is repeated until the four wheels are pulled out of the wheel frame 3.

FIG. 4 clearly shows how the in-line roller skate looks like once all the wheels 5 were pulled out. It is important to keep the wheels in a safe place since the general idea behind the present invention is to transform an in-line roller skate into an ice or hockey skate for enjoying the skates during winter time. But also to put the wheels back again when the snow is melted away and the summer time returns. By repeating the maneuver explained above the in-line roller skate now presents the wheel frame 3 free of wheels and four pair of aligned orifices 11 defining a coupling means useful for mounting a new skate assembly as will be explained below.

FIG. 5 shows in another perspective view the roller skate of FIGS. 1-4 with all the wheels 5 pulled out of the wheels frame 3. Below said wheel-less skate 1 a first embodiment of a replacement ice skate assembly 30 is shown, including an upper longitudinal bar portion 31 including four equally-spaced orifices 32 and to which an ice blade 33 is attached. The shape and size of said ice blade 33 may vary as the blade per se does not form part of the invention. As usual, said blade 33 includes a bottom sharp edge 35 (which is in contact with the ice surface during operation) and three connecting portions 38 for fixing said blade 33 to the upper bar 31.

FIG. 6 shows the simple maneuver the user must perform for replacing the in-line roller wheel with the ice blade 33. Said upper bar portion 31 is placed between lateral walls 8-10 of the wheel frame 3. The position of orifices 32 coincide with the position of orifices 11 and the thickness of said upper bar 31 is lesser than the distance between said lateral walls 8-10 so as to easily accommodate said upper bar into said wheels frame 3. Once orifices 11 and 32 are aligned, spacers 18, bearings 17 and axle bolts 14 are placed through said orifices 11 and 32. Once axle bolts are in place they are tighten using the Allen wrench 20. If the spacer is aluminum, the axle is tightening as far as it will go, but if it is plastic, is tightening almost as far as it will go, then loosen it slightly.

FIG. 7 shows through another general perspective view a second embodiment of the proposed replaceable skate assembly. In this alternative, blade 33 includes a sharp edge 40 which form differs from the form of edge 35, and its height is taller than the height of the first embodiment of FIG. 6-7. These differences are basically based on the use of this particular assembly. As shown in the attached drawings, blade 33 does not have connecting portions 38. Instead, the whole body of said blade 33 is directly embedded into the upper bar portion 31.

FIG. 8 shows how the original in-line roller skate of FIG. 1 looks like after the replacement maneuver through which the original wheels were replaced by blade 33. From the above, it is clear that the replacement assembly of the present invention allows the user to transform a traditional in-line roller skate into an ice or ice hockey skate device without purchasing expensive and customized skates, and through performing easy maneuvers using regular tools.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications can be made in the invention and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. Interchangeable in-line roller/ice skate, comprising a regular in-line roller skate including a boot or shoe with a sole to which a wheel frame is attached; said wheel frame is defined by two parallel lateral walls each of which includes a set of equally-spaced orifices into which wheels are rotatable mounted by inserting an axle bolt through said aligned orifices and through the central orifice of each wheel; the replacement assembly comprises an upper longitudinal bar portion including equally-spaced orifices and to which an ice blade is attached, the arrangement of said orifices coincides with the arrangement of the orifices in the wheel frame so as to align them during the replacement maneuver and insert a retaining bolt through them. 